Retiring Denver Safety Manager Al LaCabe left the city in the same fashion as he arrived, clashing with the police union over his disciplinary decisions as he fired three officers in connection with the use of excessive force against a 16-year-old boy.

LaCabe on Tuesday, his second-to-last day in office, fired Charles "Chuck" Porter, Luis Rivera and Cameron Moerman for their involvement in the April 18, 2008, stomping of Juan Vasquez, then 16, who suffered a lacerated liver, injured kidneys and broken ribs after he fled from police.

"I can only tell you that I have reviewed the entire file, looked at every bit of evidence and taken a lot of time to discuss the various recommendations," LaCabe said. "I made a decision which I believe to be the best, given the evidence. However, it was a very difficult case because there are so many contradictions in the evidence."

The police union's president, Mike Mosco, denounced the firings of Rivera and Moerman, which LaCabe said partly was done for their failure to promptly report Porter's stomping of the teen.

Mosco's criticism was a replay of LaCabe's first year in office seven years ago when the two clashed over LaCabe's decision to suspend from the force for 10 months without pay Officer James Turney for shooting and killing a developmentally disabled teenager.

LaCabe's suspension of Turney for the July 5, 2003, shooting death of Paul Childs was the first of many disciplinary decisions made during his tenure that signaled a new get-tough era against police misconduct.

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Eventually, LaCabe would go on to overhaul the department's disciplinary system. He replaced a decades-old system that relied on past punishments to guide disciplinary decisions with a new harder-line system that spelled out specific punishments for specific types of infractions.

Firing of 2 cops decried

Mosco similarly decried LaCabe's Tuesday firings of Rivera and Moerman, who testified during a criminal trial that they saw Porter brutalize a teen they all chased. Mosco said the firing of those two likely will make it less likely other officers will testify against their colleagues.

"The attorney who prosecuted that case said the witness officers were very credible, and now they ended up getting terminated," Mosco said. "I'm not sure what thought, if any, went into LaCabe's decision, other than that he came in on a high note in his mind, and now he thinks he's leaving on a high note."

Porter was charged with first-degree felony assault after he was accused of grabbing the top of a fence and using it to get leverage as he jumped repeatedly on the back of Vas quez at the conclusion of a chase involving the officers.

The city of Denver paid $885,000 to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of Vasquez, but a Denver jury acquitted Porter of the criminal charge months later. He had been on paid administrative leave from the Denver Police Department since his acquittal in March 2009.

Efforts to reach Vasquez and his attorneys Wednesday were unsuccessful.

LaCabe said part of the reason he decided to fire Rivera and Moerman was that they failed to promptly report Porter's actions.

Mosco said the officers eventually did come forward, and that they did so within the 10-day window they are given under state law. He added that LaCabe also should have taken into account their testimony against their colleague.

"They are still reeling over this," Mosco said. "They are shocked."

LaCabe said the 10-day window is from a criminal statute, but that department rules state officers who witness excessive force will immediately report it to a supervisor or commander.

Mosco said the union will finance any appeals by Rivera and Moerman. He said Porter is not a union member and will not receive similar financial support.

Even with LaCabe's time as safety manager coming to an end Wednesday, the union likely will continue to tangle with him.

Eric Brown, Mayor John Hickenlooper's spokesman, said the city and LaCabe still are working out details on a contract that will pay LaCabe to testify and help the new safety manager, Ronald Perea, handle appeals of disciplinary decisions made by LaCabe.

Mosco declined to criticize the firing of Porter.

Court order denied

"I don't know all the facts that went into the decision on Porter, and I'm not going to comment one way or another on that," he said.

Rivera and Moerman last week sought to get a temporary restraining order against LaCabe that would have prevented him from issuing discipline against them before his retirement this week. Denver District Court Judge Michael Martinez rejected their arguments last Friday.

LaCabe testified last week that he had "lived" with the stomping case for the past two years and pledged that he would issue discipline in the case before his final day as safety manager.

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